


Discovery

by solonggaybowser



Category: Hylics (Video Game)
Genre: Autistic Character, F/F, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Depression, Mutual Pining, One Shot, Post-Hylics 2, Swearing, Trans/Nonbinary Characters, blithely unresearched depictions of archaeology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:07:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29625402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solonggaybowser/pseuds/solonggaybowser
Summary: When Somsnosa chanced upon an unusual structure buried in the earth, only one person was on her mind.
Relationships: Dedusmuln/Somsnosa
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> i just thought it might be poggers to try writing femme!dedusmuln and also a f/f hylics fic

"Thanks for coming on such short notice," Somsnosa says, glancing down at her boots as she wades through the tall grasses. "I know this island's kind of out of the way..."

Following beside her, Dedusmuln chuckles, "No, it's no trouble at all," and Somsnosa smiles. She has such a way of making everything she says sound so genuine, even warm. It suits her especially now, the light of the descending afternoon sun on her verdant horns and gleaming rose-gold armor. She goes on, "I'm just flattered that you saw this and... you know, thought of me. N-not that I'm the most—I mean, I don't imagine most people are acquainted with many archaeologists, so, naturally you would..."

"Nah, even if I knew 'em all, there'd still be no one else I'd want to see this first." They're friends, after all.

Dedusmuln laughs again, this time softer. "Well, thank you. That's very sweet..." She clears her throat. "So, er, how did you come across this anyway?"

"Oh, yeah, so I was just out there one day, digging a well—"

"As you do."

"As I do," says Somsnosa with a giggle, "when I hit this weird... thing, buried in the dirt. Now, I might've abandoned an argillics degree a year into undergrad, but even I could tell this thing's composition was way different from the earth on top of it."

"Ah, good eye. That's more than the average layperson could do, you know."

"Ha, I guess so, huh? Anyway, uh, so I tried to dig it up, right, and I was going at it for... honestly an embarrassing length of time before I realized, hey, this seems way too big to be a, like, just a _thing_. It's gotta be a _building_ , the roof of a building, from how flat it is too."

"Right, right."

"And I'm already feeling like I'm onto something here, wondering if I should tell you about it or not. But... uhh, this is the part that I feel, sort of, bad about. I wanted to make sure it'd be worth your time, so I... broke a hole through the roof, to see what's inside. There's good shit though!" she says hastily. "I promise. You'll love it."

"Oh, I understand. Sometimes these things are unavoidable."

"I mean... I dunno. I probably could've found the actual entrance if I'd had the patience... It's not that big. But, uh, anyway—" they reach a place where the grass is sparse, giving way to bare soil— "there it is."

No real reason to point out the big hole in the ground, but oh well, she did it anyway. ... In fact, it's kind of an eyesore, isn't it, with all the dirt piled haphazardly around it. Man, maybe she should've taken a minute to clean up or something...

But Dedusmuln doesn't seem to spare a single thought on that. "Splendid work! Let's not waste any time," she says, rubbing her hands eagerly. Spirits lifted, Somsnosa is quick to help with setting up.

Soon enough the two climb down the rope into the underground ruin, Dedusmuln the first to land on the layer of dirt covering the floor. The shaft of fading sunlight from above is overpowered by the myxogastric lanterns that had earlier been left on the ground, and the five ancient cabinets are bathed in an orange glow. When Somsnosa lets go of the rope, her companion is already inspecting each one, horns held high with delight.

"Ah... marvelous! The earth has preserved these wonderfully."

Somsnosa can't help but beam, happy to see her friend happy. "Told you you'd love it."

"Oh, I never doubted you for a second." Dedusmuln kneels down to examine the height at which the soil has buried the cabinet. "Hmm, looks like a real pain to dig them all out though..."

"Haha, no way around it. So which one do you want out first?"

"Well, that dark one over there has a fascinating style of—oh. Wait, are you saying that you intend to assist...?"

"Well, yeah. What, like I'm gonna bring you out here and then just fuck off—"

"No no no, I didn't mean—!" interjects Dedusmuln, waving an agitated hand. "I-it's just, I don't want to take up so much of your time."

Somsnosa regards her seriously; she'd put a hand on her shoulder if her pauldrons weren't spiked. "I get what you're saying. But me, I wouldn't offer if I didn't mean it. All right?"

"... Thank you, Somsnosa."

Together they get to work, Somsnosa doing most of the shoveling and Dedusmuln stepping in where finer work is needed. As time goes on, she finds herself taking a certain joy in the labor that she never really has before. Back when she adventured with the rest of the crew, she always had been perfectly content to stand around and watch as Pongorma did any necessary heavy lifting. And now of course she does whatever is needed on the ranch, but she feels the satisfaction of a job well done only when it _is_ done, and usually only after getting her butt into a chair. Maybe it's the cool air of the chamber, free from the sun's wretched power, that's doing her good today. Or maybe... it's something about Dedusmuln's earnest word of thanks each time she gets a cabinet free...

Well! No time to spare on such thoughts; moving so much dirt is no mean feat, of course. And once all the cabinets have been unearthed, she sits down to catch her breath, Dedusmuln thanking her one more time. In restful silence Somsnosa watches the scholar at work—nothing else to look at here, really. She seems right at home, focused wholly on recording measurements and taking notes on... whatever it is that archaeologists can discern from these dusty relics. They must be able to see something that she can't, right? Or else what would Dedusmuln be curling her horns in concentration and tapping her pencil on her journal for?

"Hey, Dedusmuln?" Somsnosa calls out once it seems like a good time for it.

"Ah—yes?"

"What do you think this building was for anyway? You think the pre-hylics really kept some empty cabinets in here and nothing else?"

"That's a very good question; I'm wondering the same thing myself." Dedusmuln flips through the pages and glances around the room. "Perhaps they saw some sort of ritual use."

"Hm," grunts Somsnosa, pensive but dissatisfied. That doesn't narrow it down much, does it?

"Or... it's possible this room connects to a larger structure. An artisan's workshop, say."

"Oh yeah? This isn't the entire building?"

"Well, let's see." She picks up a lantern and takes it over to one of the chamber walls. "You see this section of the wall, how it's of pre-hylic construction? But over here, where the wall becomes thickly earthen—"

"—maybe there's a doorway buried somewhere in there," Somsnosa finishes, the thought dawning on her.

"Precisely! Let's find out, shall we?"

Carefully Dedusmuln chisels away at the wall, the hardened but brittle clay coming off easily enough. Once she's sure the clay does go deeper than the plane of the constructed wall would suggest, she takes a pickaxe to it. With a few precise swings, she pokes a small hole through, revealing inky darkness on the other side.

"Aha. There's more to be found in this structure than initially thought."

Somsnosa lets out a tired laugh and stands up. "Oh, boy. Okay."

But before she can grab the other pickaxe, Dedusmuln stops her and says, "Um... not to tell you your business, but, perhaps you'd better go back up and just take it easy..."

"Well, but if there's more work to be done, then—"

"Oh, actually, no, this'll be all for today. I _am_ direly curious as to what's behind this wall, but I won't excavate any further; I'll just be looking around."

"You'll be fine by yourself?"

"Mm, fine enough." She shrugs as she rubs her neck. "In this case, I'd, um, feel more at ease knowing that you're resting."

Somsnosa thinks about it, and nods. "All right then. Have fun in there."

"Thanks. See you soon."

* * *

Somsnosa opens her eyes to the night sky, the myriad stars shining above her. She sits up on her bedroll (improvised from a tarp) and can only half-comprehend the figure, backlit by a lantern on the ground, emerging from the pit.

"You only just get back...?"

"Yeah," Dedusmuln answers breathlessly.

She says no more as she absent-mindedly drops her pack and tools and one end of a length of twine, the other trailing down into the ruin. Somsnosa grabs her canteen from nearby and takes a swig of water, then stands up and offers it to Dedusmuln, who receives it gratefully.

"Everything all right?" Somsnosa asks, as her friend tips it back with enough force for water to dribble down her face.

"Yep! Yes. Extremely." Laughing, Dedusmuln caps the canteen and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. "It's been a... a wild few hours. I don't know if I can explain it well, but basically..."

She laughs again and throws her arms up in the air. "This is the find of the fucking century!!"

That wakes Somsnosa right up. "Wait, what? Are you serious?"

"Yes! My god, it's absolutely _filled_ with artifacts...! Not just cabinets, but dressers and tables and shelves and—and—so much _more_. Why, I even found some pieces of tableware!" Swept up in her own torrent of words, Dedusmuln begins aimlessly pacing about, the liquid in the canteen sloshing audibly with each gesticulation. "And that's not even the whole—like, that's _just_ from what I had time to see."

"You mean there's more...?"

"Oh, I must have only scratched the surface! This thing is enormous; I-I-I can't imagine what else lies within. And what's more, it's all laid out so incredibly _badly_!"

"Huh??" laughs Somsnosa.

"It is—and I say this without a shred of hyperbole—a _labyrinth_ , a sprawling maze that turns you around and goes on forever and—can you believe it?! _I_ can't and I just saw the damn thing! It's a labyrinth of furniture and who knows what else and—you know, I had the idea to uncoil this rope so I wouldn't get lost, and thank goodness I did—a-and someone fucking built this!! This was all so incredibly purposeful but I can't even begin to— _god_ , we're gonna be talking about this for decades to come!"

Wow, she's really hyped about this, isn't she? And here Somsnosa thought she had seen her get worked up about archaeology in the past, but all those times before were nothing compared to this. Not that Somsnosa minds that much... or at all, as a matter of fact.

It's odd. Not many years ago, she would have (and _did_ , is the sorry truth) viewed this enthusiasm for something so mundane as absurd, even tiresome, so convinced was she of the futility of life. With all the hylic beings of the world created against their wishes, at the sole mercy of happenstance all throughout life, only to one day be claimed forever by the afterlife sea, what's the point? Chaos and injustice are all but certain in a universe bound by entropy; everything else is so trivial, so _ephemeral_ in comparison. And her belief, at its core, hasn't changed much since. Yet...

Today she sees things differently. Here is Dedusmuln, her passion, her _love_ somehow borne of the vast, swirling maelstrom of existence. A blazing fire, brilliant and defiant, keeping the shadows at bay, its warmth and light radiating for as long as it possibly can. And... Somsnosa wants to stay near it.

Ha. She's dug up more than just a ruin, hasn't she...?

Her cheeks flush a bright cerulean as she takes a trembling breath, the realization crashing onto her like the waves of her own integral gesture. Oh, shit... now what? She had long ago sworn to stop chasing headlong after every romantic whim that flits into her heart, and since then quelled them quite thoroughly. But these feelings are stronger than anything she's felt before, having survived repression to break free, with great force, at this very moment.

... Would it be so bad if, after all this time, she tried again?

"... there's no way I can excavate this by myself," she hears Dedusmuln say, tuning back in, despite the mad thumping of her heart in her ears. "I'm gonna need to get a whole team of people over here—oh, Smuldunde will get a kick out of this for sure..."

"Sooo, you want me to keep digging for you, then?" Somsnosa ventures to ask, arms crossed and struggling to stay cool.

"Hm? Oh, um..." That seems to finally bring Dedusmuln back to earth. "No... I don't think I can ask that of you. I appreciate your work today, truly, but you toil hard enough on the ranch as it is."

"Well, I mean—"

"I-I know what you told me earlier, but, this is gonna be a lot of work. Like a second job, basically. I don't want you to push yourself like that." Somsnosa's disappointment must show in some way, because Dedusmuln quickly follows up, "Don't worry though; I'll hire some Waynes to help me. I hear some of them have finished their training and are looking for something else to do."

"Oh. Yeah. That's a good idea." Somsnosa smiles, though her heart isn't fully in it.

Then Dedusmuln's entire mood shifts in an instant; her voice softens and she wrings her hands, regarding the middle distance behind Somsnosa as she speaks. "Still, um... Considering I'll be in the area a lot in the foreseeable future, I... I'm wondering if I could, uh, visit the ranch more often. You know, t-to see you, and such..."

"Oh, I'd love that," Somsnosa says without thinking about it; Dedusmuln looks up at her sharply. "I mean, uh..." is something else that she just blurts out—but this, she walks back. "Ah, what am I saying...? I meant what I said."

Dedusmuln giggles (and it's adorable, it really is, every time; now Somsnosa can let herself think it). "That's good. Um, I-I would too."

How interesting... Maybe she even has a chance, Somsnosa thinks. Hell, she could just say it here and now and... no. No, this time she can wait. She's not the person she was ten years ago. She knows there's no rush, not with Dedusmuln.

**Author's Note:**

> she found an ikea


End file.
